through 9:00 this morning. a 30% chance from time to time. then a little sun breaking out around noontime. then partly cloudy and mild this afternoon. climbing into the 60s again. a look at the evening planner in ten minutes. how's traffic? good morning. checking travel speeds around the beltway, they look really good. seeing nothing but green. nothing really slowing you down. let's start with the beltway in montgomery county. passing georgia avenue, 59 miles per hour on the outer loop. traveling on the inner loop, central avenue, you're at 58 miles per hour. crossing over the wilson bridge on the inner loop of the beltway, 63 miles per hour. and again, no issues for you on the outer loop in this area, as well. a-270, a look now at west montgomery avenue. in fact, you're clear. traveling northbound as well as southbound, lanes are open. as you connect to the spur, no issues there. back to you both. >> thank you very much. 4:30 now. more now on the florida primary and mitt romney's big victory. >> he rebounded soundly after last weekend's major defeat to

newt gingrich in south carolina. nbc's tracie potts is live in tampa to break down yesterday's results sdpop talk about where the race for the gop nomination goes from here and whether it really is becoming a two-man race. >> reporter: good morning, everyone, from tampa where newt gingrich was unable to come back here in florida but insists he'll be back in the summer for the republican convention, making this a two-man race to the very end. romney now has three times as many delegates as newt gingrich. starting tomorrow, secret service protection, too, after a decisive win in florida. he won women, seniors, and hispanics. >> hi, there. >> reporter: 46% of the vote after bombarding florida with ads targeting gingrich. >> a competitive primary does not divide us, it prepares us. ours will be a united party with a winning ticket for america. >> reporter: gingrich is the only candidate who did not call

to congratulate romney. he came in a distant second but insists he'll compete in upcoming caucus dates. >> we are going to contest every place, and we are going to win. and we will be in tampa as the nominee in august. [ applause ] >> reporter: overnight, federal reports revealed who's funding these campaigns. wall street's backing romney, his pac earned $30 million last year. gingrich's pac got a $10 million donation from one casino owner -- five times what they'd raised earlier. that will likely fuel more negative ads. >> the american public does not want to see two or three candidates get to a mud-wrestling match where everybody walks away dirty. >> reporter: it's on to nevada this weekend where ron paul says he's got the best chance of winning. >> if enthusiasm wins election, we win hands down. >> reporter: rick santorum came in third, but he also was helping to do better in the caucuses. in fact, he's already got an ad

ready for nevada and colorado. that's the latest from tampa, i'm trayy potts, back to you. >> thank you. if the win in florida did not solidify romney as a front-runner, this will. he will have the protection of the secret service beginning tomorrow. the campaign refused to comment further saying that they don't discuss matters of security. romney will be the only republican candidate to have that protection, further cementing his image at least as the legal gop nominee. with his win in florida, mitt romney holds a sizable lead in the delegate count. he has 70 while gingrich has just 23. rick santorum has 11 delegates. ron paul has 6. of course, the race is far from over. a candidate needs 1,143 delegates to win the republican nomination. the next state up for grabs is nevada. it holds its caucus this saturday. maine voters will be caucusing for a whole week starting saturday. next tuesday, colorado and minnesota hold their caucuses. missouri holds its primary that

day, but that contest won't be counted for delegates toward the gop convention. the early primary would have been in violation of republican national committee rules which only allow certain states to hold their contest that early. instead the missouri republican party will hold a caucus in march to determine the delegates sent to the convention. today president obama will be in forecast. he's scheduled -- in fairfax county. he's scheduled to speak about a program that would offer lower interest rates to all homeowners even if the person owes more on the home than what it's worth. the president is expected to make the announcement at the james lee community center in falls church around 11:00 this morning. the event is closed to the public. a heads up for metro riders this morning. right now the south entrance to the dupont circle station is closed. the transit agency closed the 19th street entrance overnight so crews can begin replacing escalators. they're some of the longest and least reliable escalators in the system. work is expected to last through

october. meantime, riders will have to use the north entrance near q street. right now, u.s. park police are enforcing their no-camping rule down at the occupy d.c. encampments downtown. let's take a live look at mcpherson square, the larger of the two site. officers patrolled the area all night long. police want to make sure the demonstrators are not sleeping in tents. officers are making the same patrols at freedom plaza. a judge ruled that the government must notify protesters if it intends to clear the protest sites. demonstrators can then also contest those eviction plans in court. today the man arrested for the murder of an alexandria community activist will be in court. police arrested 49-year-old lynnwood johnson for the murder of lenny harris. police got a break in the case when an anonymous tip led officers to harris' body at the bottom of a well in prince george's county. >> the motive in that murder is robbery. we have recovered what we believe to be the murder weapon.

the murder weapon is a firearm. >> police say johnson confessed to the murder and knew harris. harris vanished in september. he was last seen in alexandria. a move today could unravel d.c.'s legalized online gambli g gambling. the district's finance and revenue committee is scheduled to vote on possibly repealing the program. d.c. was first in the country to legalize online gambling. now the approval process is being questioned. council members told the "washington post" they'd rather start again sister from scratch. today in maryland, governor o'malley will deliver a speech focusing on job creation. he's also expected to talk about the proposed sales tax on gasoline and same-sex marriage legislation. the state of the state address is scheduled to begin at noon. and our time is 4:36. ahead on "news4 today," will they get a raise or not? the pay rate of thousands of federal workers is in the hands

of congress today. plus, a little close to home. why people who use this popular park are concerned about efforts to control the deer population. sure, it's february. why can't we enjoy another day of spring? well, we'll see whether we will.

[ snoring ] [ thunder crashes ] [ snoring ] [ thunder crashes ] [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] vicks nyquil cold and flu. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep you ever got with a cold... medicine. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] vicks dayquil. defeats 5 cold & flu symptoms. ♪

4:39. this is a live look outside. 55 degrees on the first day of february. not bad after a glorious

springlike day yesterday. i think we're in for one more day. a couple of sprinkles, though. >> i punched february in the face and said, bring it. on i can deal with it. let's go to tom and find out about the forecast. indeed, starting off mild. we have some sprinkles on radar. take a look at the moving color. that's rain. a few sprinkles across northern virginia including fauquier, prince william, fairfax, loudoun, and across the president obapotomac, montgomery county, howard county getting sprinkles. panhandle of west virginia, too. sprinkles around the central blue ridge heading east. temperatures now are in the low to mid 50s in fairfax, arlington, montgomery, prince george's county and the district of columbia. mid to upper 50s near the bay yaurts. farther to the west, too, 50s in the blue ridge, shenandoah valley, into the mountains. sunrise at 7:15. in the day planner, there's a lingering chance of a sprinkle around mid morning. then mostly cloudy.

mid 50s still. then we'll get a little sun breaking out around noontime. ought to hit the low 60s. for a brief time again today like yesterday, ought to hit the mid to upper 60s. the middle of the afternoon. overnight tonight, here's your evening planner. sun set's at 5:29. we'll have a partly cloudy start to the evening. clouding up by midnight. down into the low 50s by then. could get some rain tomorrow. we'll look at that, friday, and the weekend, into next week, in ten minutes. danella? good morning. let's head down i-95 in virginia. if you're traveling i-95, flow chart looks really good. a lot of green as you're making your way past route 1, the travel speed northbound, 63 miles per hour. traveling along 395, we'll make the trip together heading northbound, leaving from the beltway. seeing green in both directions. as you continue heading toward the pentagon here, no issue in either direction. and crossing over the 14th street bridge, a live look now. no issues as you head into the city. travel speed northbound on 395, a cool 63 miles per hour. looking great right now.

now back to you both. indeed. thank you very much. 4:41 now. 55 degrees. still to come, getting the word out. police are going door to door after a woman is attacked in fairfax county. plus, an unexpected visitor. the guest at this library that had

welcome back. the founder of wikileaks will appear in court today. prosecutors accuse julian assange of assaulting two women. he claims the sex was consensual and says the charge is an effort to keep him quiet after he released thousands of secret cables about the wars in iraq and afghanistan. federal investigators are recommending disciplinary action against three air force officials for retaliating again the whistleblowers who uncovered

the mishandling of fallen troops at the dover air force base in delaware. the report by the office of council did not identify the three. one is an active duty military member, and the other two are civilians. among the problems uncovered at dover include the loss of body parts. the whistleblowers say they lost their jobs or were put on indefinite administrative leave. the air force says it will review the study before taking any action. the house could decide today whether federal workers will go another year without a pay raise. the house is set to vote on a bill that would extend a pay freeze for one more year. lawmakers and congressional staffers would also be affected by the bill. president obama opposes the legislation. he wants federal civilian workers to receive a half percent pay raise. a developing story for all women taking birth control pills. pfizer is recalling about one million packs saying they may not have enough contraceptive to prevent pregnancy. this recall affects 14 lots of

lo/ovral tablets and 14 lots of norgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablets. the susan g. komen foundation, the largest breast cancer charity, has cut its tied with planned parenthood -- its ties with planned parenthood. they're charged with spending public money on abortions. a susan g. komen spokesperson says it can no longer take grants from organizations under investigation. planned parenthood says the split is politically motivated and based on pressure from anti-abortion groups. the end of the partnership cuts off hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants mainly for breast exams. survivors of the cruise ship disaster in italy are suing the line for millions. more than 500 passengers filed a class-action lawsuit in florida. that's where carnival is based. the ship capsized earlier this month killing 17 people. the cruise line initially offered survivors about $14,000 apiece. meanwhile, search crews have

called off their search for the 16 people still missing in the submerged part of the ship. fairfax county police are warning neighbors about an attempted abduction and rape. police say a 37-year-old was walking home along the 4100 block of elmwood street sunday when a man with a gun grabbed her and tried to rape her before running away. last night police walked the neighborhood knocking on doors, telling residents about the attack. many residents say this was the first they heard about it. >> i think it's been a good place to live so far. for something to happen like this, pretty shocking. i mean, you always wonder about the surrounding area. >> reporter: >> police passed out flyers with information hoping someone who saw something will come forward. the woman who was not -- the woman was not hurt and did not need any medical attention. this morning an electric contractor is suffering from burns on 50% of his body. a power line he was working on shocked him in fairfax county, that caused 2,700 virginia

dominion customers to lose power. crews restored power to the customers. bow hunting season is underway in fairfax county, and it's causing concern at one park because some worry a stray arrow could hit park-goers. everyone agrees there that the deer population in lorton is a growing problem, especially near the new laurel hill park. the area was once part of the lorton prison complex. some question if hunting should be allowed during park hours while walkers, joggers, and cyclists are on the trails. others say the deer population poses a greater risk. >> there's a problem. i mean, we see them on the roads all the time. it's scary. >> i think it's okay. i mean, control the deer population around here for sure. >> a spokesperson for the fairfax county's parks department says signs are posted and notices were sent to those living in the area with the times and dates of deer hunting season. meanwhile, a deer crashed through the window of a southwest washington library. take a look. it's very quick. you can see that moving through the frame, you see the deer in

midair really. once inside the washington highlands library, the deer caused a big mess and scared a lot of folks inside. employees locked themselves in a room for safety. the deer had to be put down. the library is closed today so the crews can finish cleaning up. can imagine how terrified the deer was being inside that enclosed space. >> exactly. as well as the people inside the library. >> sure. frightening. yesterday, can we just talk about yesterday before we go forward so we can bask in how lovely it was on the last day of january. >> yeah. the humidity was low. no insects buzzing around your head. a wonderful afternoon. we have clouds that came in. a weak disturbance brought us sprinkles. you'll need an umbrella if you're about to head out this early wednesday morning. there's the scene over the washington monument, a cloudy sky. there are just a few sprinkles now at reagan national. temperature there now at 52. and we have a

south/southwesterly breeze around five to ten miles per hour. looking at the radar, we do have this area of green, this all sprinkle activity moving across northern virginia from fredericksburg up toward warrenton, manassas, and closer to washington, all across fairfax county now and montgomery county getting the sprinkles. they're heading east now into the district of columbia, to the beltway and prince george's coun county. that's going to continue to move east to the northern neck, too. farther west, sprinkles in leesburg and loudoun county up to frederick county, maryland, and washington county. then it breaks up, a few scattered, light sprinkles in the shenandoah valley. temperatures in the mid 50s, low to mid 50s in the mountains, as well as from the blue ridge to the bay. just a few locations are done in the 40s. leesburg's at 48. frederick at 41. here's your forecast for today. your day planner, sunrise getting earlier and earlier, 7:15. we might have a lingering sprinkle around 9:00. then a little sun breaking out

around noontime. and temperatures back into the 60s again today. not as much sun, though. a partly sunny afternoon, then clouding up tonight. by midnight we'll be down to the low 50s. during the day tomorrow, does look like we may get some rain moving in after midnight tonight that may linger through midday thursday and then clearing out during the afternoon a bit. highs in the 50s tomorrow. then much chillier weather moves in for friday, saturday, and sunday. highs only near 50 each of those days, and highs, 40s on monday and tuesday. danella, how's traffic? good morning, still looking good if you're taking the beltway. a live look at the beltway at university wfboulevard. traveling on the inner loop, no issues. on the outer loop, 57 miles per hour. to get from i-95 to i-270, that trip right now will take you ten minutes. on the beltway in prince george's county, no issues. in virginia, in the clear. this is the view at route 1,

richmond highway in virginia, no issues. crossing over the wilson bridge to van dorn, you're at 63 miles per hour on the inner loop. that trip will only take you six minutes. back to you. >> thank you very much. the super bowl is bringing in super-sized security. today homeland security secretary janet nepthanapolitan talk about efforts to keep everyone safe. as far as the government is concerned, the super bowl ranks just below national security events involving the president. more than 1,000 police officers are in indianapolis to protect the 150,000 fans. time to get down to business for both teams. the giants will practice in indianapolis for the first time today. the patriots already started practicing in indianapolis. the fun and games are over for the players for the first time in super bowl history. fans watched media day. reporters from around the world asked the players and coaches everything and anything. dan hellie was among them and asked the giants players a

question many redskins fans are thinking now -- how did the redskins beat the giants twice this season? >> we struggled against their good defense. their defense got overlooked over the course of the years, how good they were. we just lost and got out-physicaled by the defense. >> there you go. the giants and patriots face off this sunday. kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. >> nice to hear an honest appraisal. nbc 4 is your official station for super bowl xlvi. jim vance and dan healllie are indianapolis. you can watch their live reports all this week. 4:53. coming up, talk about getting help from people in high places. how president obama is trying to help one unemployed worker find a job. plus, having a little fun with jay leno. what the first lady and the king

welcome back. facebook is expected to file paperwork today to raise $5 billion for its initial public offering of stock. that total is about half of what had been expected. economists, though, say the size of the ipo could be increased to meet investor demand. the ipo is expected in may. it's one of the most highly anticipated initial public offerings in year. it could value the site at as

much as $100 billion. president obama is helping an unemployed texas man find a new job. darin waddell is an near and got laid off three years ago from texas instruments. his wife asked president obama a question during an online town hall meeting. she asked the president a question, and it led to this answer -- >> if your husband's in that field, we should get his resume and forward it to companies that are telling me they can't find enough nears -- enough engineers in the field. >> the company has promised to get the resume to the president. >> do you mind if i use you as a reference? >> right. 1600 pennsylvania avenue, there you go. the first lady got some laughs on the "tonight show." >> michelle obama tried to break jay leno's self-proclaimed unhealthy eating habits by giving him fruits and vegetables grown at the white house.

>> leno turned the tables back on the first lady asking her what foods she doesn't like. >> i don't like beets. i'm not a beet lover. >> i have something for you -- these are beets. i thought you'd like them. >> eww. tricky. tricky. >> you know, you don't know if you don't like something if you don't try it. >> i'll do it. bring it on. a whole beet. >> there you are. [ applause ] [ laughter ] >> as you see, she was a good sport. the first lady told leno that he is a role model so he needs to try to eat vegetables every once in a while. mrs. obama also promoted her let's move campaign that is designed to get children excited about fitness and healthy eating. yes, he got her to try it. >> jay's eating pizza, though. were there vegetables on the pizza, i hope? >> at the least. i hope. >> there were vegetables on the pizza. good. one baby step at a time. put the vegetables on the pizza.

>> that's good. keep it up. stay with us, "news4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m. mr. president, you were elected to lead. you chose to follow. and now it's time for you to get out of the way. >> making a statement. tough talk from mitt romney after a decisive win in the florida primary. a headache for metro riders as one busy station entrance is closed for months of repairs. good morning, i'm joe krebs. welcome back to "news4 today." >> and i'm eun yang. it's wednesday, february 1, 2012. let's take a live look outside now. it is 4:59. it is 54 degrees out there. feels so nice. and after yesterday, we'd like a repeat. meteorologist tom kierein will tell us if we can have one. >> by popular demand, i think we will. >> all right! >> by later this afternoon. right now, we're getting sprij of light rain. if you're -- sprinkles of light rain.